MCC considered, but rejected taking second bond issue to voters

Macomb Community College officials considered asking voters a second time to approve a bond issue to fund technology and facilities upgrades, but decided instead to assess a fee to students to raise some of the needed money, the college president said Wednesday.

The MCC Board of Trustees voted 5-2 Tuesday to create a $5 per-credit-hour “technology and facility fee,” a new source of funds that will finance new technology and infrastructure improvements. The board also approved a $3 per-credit-hour tuition hike. Both increases go into effect in the fall.

College officials had hoped to finance its technology and facilities needs through a $56 million bond issue, but voters turned down the request last November.

Returning to voters for another try was an option seriously discussed, but waiting until 2014 to put the measure back on the ballot and the uncertainty of approval pushed the college’s administration to recommend the fee instead, said President Jim Jacobs.

“While we certainly don’t like that the students are paying more, we thought that was a better option,” the president said.

Voters rejected the bond proposal in November by a 53-to-47 percent margin. The measure lost by some 20,000 votes. Despite those numbers, Jacobs said the community still supports MCC, but just wasn’t willing to finance improvements with a tax increase.

Jacobs estimated the new fee will raise approximately $2.3 million annually for the college. Money derived from the technology and facilities fees cannot be used for salaries or day-to-day operations of the college.

The fee combined with the tuition hike will raise the per-credit-hour cost of attending MCC to $94 for a county resident. Tuition rates for other categories of students also will be increased.

James Kelly, chairman of the MCC Board of Trustees, said the new fee and the tuition hike is necessary for the college to address “significant financial challenges,” including declining property tax revenue and increases in mandated expenses – notably payments to the retirement system.

“The board has carefully evaluated the steps taken by the college over the past several years to manage its increasingly compromised traditional revenue streams,” Kelly said in a news release.

“Taking into account the efficiencies already implemented, including staffing reductions, salary freezes and savings achieved through employee health care plan management, we recognized that Macomb would need to join the majority of community colleges in the region and throughout the state by implementing a fee to support necessary technology and facilities expenditures designed to support student success and meet community needs for meaningful educational opportunities.”

Kelly was joined by Trustees Nancy Falcone, Roseanne DiMaria, Connie Bolanowski and Christine Bonkowski in approving the fee and tuition hike. Joseph DeSantis and Frank Cusumano were opposed.

Cusumano, a first-term trustee elected in November, said the timing is not good to raise tuition and fees for students.

“Students are already heavily burdened with by tuition costs, fees and the attendant student loan debt,” he said in an email.

Cusumano also said he suspects the increases “sets the table” for later pay raises for administrators and faculty.

“It is a foregone conclusion that this is what is coming next,” he said.